Tuesday 15 April 2008

The Dark of the Night



The girl didn’t want to sleep. She feared the dark hours of the night, the long minutes filled with restlessness and uncertainty. She tried to stay awake, pushed her lids with fingers, and tried to keep eyes wide open.
It was important not to sleep.
If you fell asleep, you might never wake up.

That had happened to Granny, who had never opened her eyes one morning. They said Granny had died peacefully in her sleep. They sounded pleased despite their tears, and the girl thought they were horrible, just awful.

She couldn’t understand them, and she was certain they wanted her dead as well.

She missed Granny, and that made her even more afraid of the dark of the night.



11 comments:

hpy said...

Better tell the girl that Granny died while they where sleeping! For who could be sure about Granny.

SusuPetal said...

I believe it's too late to explain anything, HPY, fear listens to no reason.

PeterParis said...

A very understandable child reaction! Trust that he/she/you... learnt to sleep with the age!

SusuPetal said...

I also think it's an understandable reaction, Peter. A child makes everything so concrete.

Mick said...

A wonderful, dark and scary story, Susu. Just so you know, I've been awake since 1955!

SusuPetal said...

I guessed that, Mick! When are they coming to take you away, hahahaha....

GMG said...

Hi Susu! Sorry for this short visit, but I just wanted to say thanks for your comments on my blog. This weekend, I’m going to take a musical break, and next week I’ll make a very short trip, crossing South Atlantic. I’ll try to catch up with your posts as soon as possible. Meanwhile, leave you with some chocolate champagne truffles at Blogtrotter.
Have a lovely weekend and an excellent week!
Gil

chrome3d said...

Just give it up to sleep. Sleeping is so much better than being awake all the time.

SusuPetal said...

Thanks for the truffles, Gil!

Giving up is a hard thing to do, chrome3d.

Kennethwongsf said...

This unsettling piece, reinforced by the black-and-white photo, reminds me of Edger Allen Poe's stories.

SusuPetal said...

Not a bad comparison, Kenneth!